President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran says that European politicians are stupid, and know nothing about politics or history. According to him, Iran is now undefeatable as a world power, while its enemies are on the verge of collapse.In other news, the German defense minister says that it impossible to establish democracy in Afghanistan, and that a role for the Taliban in the Afghan government is inevitable. Meanwhile, the latest tranche of an $11.3 billion IMF loan to Pakistan has been approved.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Insubria, JD, JP, Sean O’Brian, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Pakistan: IMF Approves $1.2bln Loan Payment
Islamabad and Washington, 23 Dec. (AKI) — The International Monetary Fund has approved the fourth payment worth 1.2 billion dollars for Pakistan. The funds are part of an 11.3 billion dollar loan agreed in July, of which over five billion dollars have so far been disbursed.
The decision to approve the fourth tranche of the loan was taken at an IMF executive board meeting in Washington.
Pakistan negotiated the loan with the IMF to avoid a balance of payments crisis and to shore up its reserves.
The government has had eliminate subsidies on various items and increased power rates by 20 per cent in order to keep its budget deficit down to 4.8 per cent of GDP as required under the terms of the IMF loan agreement, according to Pakistani media report.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: Italian Car Giant Gains Controlling Stake in Zastava Plant
Belgrade, 23 Dec. (AKI) — Italian Fiat on Wednesday became a majority owner of Serbian car manufacturer Zastava. The joint venture deal is worth an estimated 900 million euros, with planned annual production of 200,000 automobiles by 2011.
Serbian economy minister Mladjan Dinkic and vice-president of the Fiat Group Alfredo Altavilla on Wednesday signed agreements for the production of two new automobile models for the European and American markets.
Dinkic said the new company would employ about 2,500 workers and would export vehicles worth almost billion euros annually. It will make the two new cars along with the Fiat Punto, which is already manufactured by Zastava.
Under the deal, Fiat will invest 100 million euros in Zastava by the end of the year and another 100 million euros in 2010. It will also pay an additional 700 million euros for the modernisation of the factory, located in Kragujevac, 110 kilometres south of Belgrade.
Serbian officials said the deal was a great boost for Serbia’s economy and would help the country exit from the recession which has gripped the world economy.
The Serbian government holds a 33 percent stake in the company. Zastava’s shares will be compensated in property and infrastructure, plus 100 million euros in two years.
Fiat and Zastava signed a cooperation agreement in September last year and created a joint venture company, Fiat automobiles Serbia.
Zastava was destroyed in a NATO bombing in 1999, but its production has since been revived. This year it made 16,000 Fiat Punto cars for the Serbian market.
Serbia’s pro-European government has hailed the agreement with Fiat as a major breakthorough in foreign investment and president Boris Tadic was personally involved in clinching the deal.
Fiat’s chief executive Sergio Marchionne on Wednesday outlined an ambitious business plan to the Italian government that will increase annual car production in Italy to one million over the next three years and spend 8 billion euros in investments and research in 2010-2011.
Two-thirds of that investment will be in Italy.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Anti-Semitism Czar’s First Target is Israel
Obama envoy hails group accused of working against Jewish state
In her first major interview since becoming President Obama’s newly appointed anti-Semitism czar last month, Hannah Rosenthal yesterday blasted the Israeli government for its criticism of a lobby group accused of anti-Israel activity.
Rosenthal characterized as “most unfortunate” a decision by Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, to not attend the annual dinner in September of J Street, a lobby group that is mostly led by left-leaning Israelis and that receives funds from Arab and Muslim Americans.
In an interview yesterday from Jerusalem with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, Rosenthal said Oren “would have learned a lot” if he had participated in J Street’s conference.
[…]
WND recently reported Rosenthal was a 1960s anti-war activist and community organizer whose husband worked with the founder of a socialist party, of which, according to documentary evidence, Obama was a member.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Chris Matthews: Alinsky ‘Our Hero’
MSNBC host hails radical community organizer
Just five days after affirming on air that he is a liberal, MSNBC host Chris Matthews exclaimed that radical community organizer Saul Alinsky is one of his heroes.
Stated Matthews: “Well, to reach back to one of our heroes from the past, from the ‘60s, Saul Alinsky once said that even though both sides have flaws in their arguments and you can always find something nuanced about your own side you don’t like and it’s never perfect, you have to act in the end like there’s simple black and white clarity between your side and the other side or you don’t get anything done.
“I always try to remind myself of Saul Alinsky when I get confused,” Matthews said on his “Hardball” show, speaking to guest Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, on the topic of President Obama’s health care plan.
[Comments from JD: See url for video.]
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congress — Expansion of Global Governance, Interpol, And Obama
President Obama has also made no secret of his support for the United Nations and their mission. An INTERPOL web site press release (PR200992) stated they had the support of over 60 nations for INTERPOL becoming the “United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and were participating “governments establish a plan of action to promote international police peacekeeping as an essential counterpart to the military…”
On the 16th of December the heads of EUROPOL and INTERPOL agreed to enhance co-operation “for a global police response to serious crime and terrorism. (INTERPOL web site)
On the same day that the expansion of cooperation of this international police organization President Obama signed an Executive Order to amend Executive Order 12425 granting INTERPOL expanded privileges, exemptions and immunities.
[…]
What this new EO provides is the ability of INTERPOL to be treated with consular like status with such privileges as:
* Freedom from searches or confiscation * The archives of the organization become inviolable — meaning free from violation or trespass, we cannot touch their documents. (Section 2c) * The officers, families, servants, employees, or representatives shall be admitted into the country free from customs duties and from of IRS importation taxes. (Section 3) * This would grant INTERPOL freedom from ALL IRS taxes for wages, fees, salary, employment taxes, communications taxes (like on your phone bill), transportation taxes for persons or property, (Section 4) * INTERPOL would be exempt from paying any Social Security or FICA taxes (Section 5) * And finally they would be exempt from all Property Taxes. (Section 6)
[…]
What is curious is why we need to give a “police” organization consular status, providing diplomatic immunity, to perform police coordination. Is there another mission the President has in mind for the new Global Police Force?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Defund Taxpayer-Supported Science Fraud
Perhaps you have heard of the now-infamous “hockey stick” graph that supposedly proved the Industrial Revolution, which massively improved the lives of millions of people, was the cause of global warming? The “hockey stick” was a fraudulent representation of data which showed a straight line of constant temperatures with a sharp uptick at the end. That uptick is allegedly the time that industrialization supposedly started generating global warming. Well, it turns out the “hockey stick” graph was as valid as a three-dollar bill.
Those of us active in defending the right to keep and bear arms don’t find it surprising that when politicians fund research, you get political science, not real science. Dr. Arthur Kellerman is the Trofim Lysenko of research on guns and public health. He grabbed some of our money that was funneled by the drunken spenders in Congress through the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
In exchange for our hard-earned money, Kellerman came up with a study that “proved” that someone with a gun in their house is 43 times more likely to be killed than a disarmed householder. Kellerman’s “research” made a few questionable assumptions to ensure that his conclusions arrived at the proper outcome.
For example, he stipulated that a successful self-defense use of a gun had to result in the death of a home invader. Cute. Real scientists such as Dr. Gary Kleck of Florida State University find that of the more than 2 million times a year that Americans use a gun in self-defense, they only fire their gun two to three percent of the time.
[…]
The chaps at East Anglia did the same thing that Kellerman did until he got caught. Their modus operandi is “don’t let the public see the data they paid for.” The British Lysenkos destroyed a lot of their data and otherwise refused to comply with British Freedom of Information laws. Kellerman withheld his data for years until Congress forced the Centers for Disease Control to tell him to cough it up.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Minnesota Seat in Congress at Stake in Census
Minnesota’s flagging population growth could cost it a congressional seat in 2012, but a strong response to next year’s census might prevent the state from losing representation.
[…]
The reapportionment of House seats allocated to each state is based on population counts by the U.S. census every 10 years.
Losing a congressional seat would set off a fight between Republicans and Democrats over which member of the delegation would pay the price.
The Minnesota Legislature and governor would be faced with deciding which seat to eliminate — a highly political job that could end in a stalemate and ultimate court challenge.
If Minnesota were targeted to give up a seat, the Sixth Congressional District represented by Republican Michele Bachmann would be particularly vulnerable, said Steven Smith, a political science professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Website Documenting Islamic Hate Faces Death Threats
Radicals send photo of headless body: ‘We will kill you. Like this’
Editor’s Note: The following contains references to graphic violence and images:
A recent e-mail to a website launched after the 9/11 terror attacks to document the instances of Islamic violence said simply: “We will kill you. Like this … “
The message included a photograph of a man who had been beheaded, his body resting chest down on grass and his lifeless head placed in the middle of his own back. Another photograph showed a bloody knife.
But the operator of The Religion of Peace website says those types of threats don’t bother him much.
“I don’t think anyone who is serious about killing me is going to announce it in advance,” the operator, who uses the pseudonym Glen Reinsford, told WND. “Still, one more reason to stay anonymous.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Plan to Close Fiat Plant in Sicily Sparks General Strike
Rome, 23 Dec. (AKI) — Workers at Italian car giant Fiat’s factory in Sicily on Wednesday held a general strike after the company’s official announcement the plant would close by the end of 2011. The strike was called by Italy’s FIOM, FIM and UILM unions and all workers at the factory in Termini Imerese near Palermo were taking part, according to UIL’s local secretary, Angelo Comella.
“Fiat’s position is unyielding and we must be equally determined — to find solutions. Our resolve must have an impact on Fiat and on the government,” said Comella.
Over 400 furious Fiat workers returned by train on Wednesday to Palermo from the Italian capital, Rome, after protesting outside the cabinet office on Tuesday.
The workers’ protest took place as Fiat’s chief executive Sergio Marchionne outlined an ambitious business plan to the government that will increase annual car production in Italy to one million over the next three years and spend 8 billion euros in investments and research in 2010-2011.
Two-thirds of that investment will be in Italy.
Marchionne announced the Termini Imerese plant’s closure, saying vehicles cost up to 1,000 euros more to produce there than those from other factories due to the lack of infrastructure in the area.
Although the Termini Imerese plant — Fiat’s smallest factory — keeps losing money, political and union leaders want it to stay in operation, given its importance to the Sicilian economy.
The Turin-based carmaker produced nearly 650,000 vehicles at its six plants in the country this year, and the government has been urging Fiat to increase production.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy’s Berlusconi Vows to Defeat Mafia by 2013
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has vowed to defeat organised crime in the country by 2013.
“The mafia is a pathological phenomenon that we want to defeat once and for all by the end of this term in office,” Mr Berlusconi told Italy’s national radio.
“No government in the history of the republic has acted with as much determination and efficiency in the fight against criminal organisations”.
Italian police have arrested hundreds of people in recent anti-mafia raids.
Those being held are accused of extortion, arms dealing and drugs trafficking.
Earlier this month, mafia informant Gaspare Spatuzza made an allegation that a Sicilian Mafia boss convicted of 1990s bombings had boasted of ties to Mr Berlusconi.
Gaspare Spatuzza said the Mafia boss claimed to have Mr Berlusconi’s support.
A spokesman for Mr Berlusconi, who denies the allegations, suggested the Mafia was trying to discredit the prime minister.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Switzerland: Libya Led to “Exhausting” Diplomatic Year
Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has admitted that Switzerland’s dispute with Libya has been her toughest diplomatic issue of the year.
Speaking on the Swiss German television news programme Rundschau on Wednesday night she said the detention of two Swiss businessmen there was not a political drama as Libya was not a strategic partner for Switzerland. “But it is a human drama: we think about these men every day.”
Overall the year had been “exhausting” on a political level, she said. “I am a little tired, we had to deal with many urgent matters. It was very difficult.”
The problems were coupled with diplomatic successes, namely Switzerland’s role in mediating an historic accord between Armenia and Turkey and the good offices provided to Georgia and Russia.
Other highlights were the start of the Swiss presidency of the Council of Europe and the formal nomination of ex-minister Joseph Deiss as western countries’ choice for chair of the 2010 United Nations General Assembly.
There was room for improvement in the foreign ministry’s communication efforts, Calmy-Rey acknowleged, while adding that theirs was not a collegial way of working.
The biggest challenge in the years ahead would be Swiss relations with Europe, she said, with Switzerland likely to suffer discrimination owing to its stand-alone policies. Bilateral relations also threw up some difficulties she said.
Switzerland needed an “active open policy” as “we cannot find all solutions within Switzerland, we must collaborate with others”.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Being a Muslim at Christmas
Bess writes: What is it like to be a believer from a non-Christian faith at Christmas? That was the question Faith Central asked Sajda Khan, a British Muslim last week. Below Sajda, a writer and student, gives her answer…
Sajda Khan: I have a very vivid memory of my days in primary school; weeks before school closed for Christmas, the beautifully decorated tree would stand tall and proud in the school hall, with glimmering lights, laden with shimmering tinsel and colourful baubles.
Like all the other children, I too would wait impatiently for Santa Claus I can remember once, all the children in my class given a colouring book with colouring pencils; my friend’s book was much thicker than mine, my heart was spilling with grief as I eyed my friend’s thick colouring book from the corner of my eye.
I am a British Muslim and as a child I never really understood what Christmas was about; all I knew was that it was celebrating the birth of Jesus. Little did I know that in Islam, Jesus was also a revered Messiah, the anointed one, who will one day, return to earth.
The more I learned about Islam the more I realised that my religion requires me to be tolerant and respectful towards other faiths. The one thing that most disturbs me is that despite the many common theological roots and beliefs that Islam and Christianity have shared throughout history, they have often been depicted as lethal enemies locked in conflict.
This so-called clash of civilizations has been marked with episodes of confrontation and conflict from as early as the defeat of the Byzantine empire in the seventh century, to the ferocious Crusades and the current war on terror; a story of mistrust, sometimes spilling into hatred that can only be resolved by one side triumphing over the other. The reality is that Christians and Muslim have lived in peaceful co-existence for centuries throughout the world.
Muslims and Christians share similar theological roots; for example a belief in Jesus as a Messiah. There is a difference: Muslims do not regard Jesus as the son of God but see him as a great Prophet. The Qur’an, mentions Jesus in about 25 different places. Muslims believe in the immaculate conception of Jesus, where God said ‘Be’ and he was conceived.. The Qur’an also illustrates the many different miracles he performed; such as healing the leper, raising the dead to life and healing the blind etc. The first miracle of Jesus mentioned in the Qur’an was how he spoke in the cradle as a newborn baby, replying to those who doubted his conception.
Muslims believe that in Islam, all of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an are a fraternity, they all had the same core message: to call mankind to the worship of one God and to do good.
For Christians, Christmas is about celebrating the birthday of a sacred person: the embodiment of nobility, generosity, compassion and justice. These characteristics can be emulated by anyone from any religious background. Amid the media hype building up towards Christmas there is little focus on the great characteristics of Jesus and what we can learn from his life.
Even though I do not celebrate Christmas in the real sense — as a university student, for instance I would often work long shifts as a medical operator on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day enabling my non Muslim colleagues to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I do actually celebrate and cherish his birth and his life on this earth by truly loving him and trying to exemplify his noble characteristics in my own life.
Sajda Khan is an author currently studying for a doctorate on Islam in Britain
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Indian to Head Amnesty International
London, 21 Dec. (AKI) — London-based campaign group Amnesty International has appointed Indian national Salil Shetty as its next secretary general. Shetty, has for the past six years headed the United Nations Millennium Campaign to halve poverty and improve human welfare by 2015.
“We are thrilled that Salil will be joining us and leading Amnesty International as we renew our fight to end injustice — campaigning with those imprisoned because of their ideas, those on death row, those being tortured, and those who have their rights denied because they live in poverty,” said Peter Pack, chairman of Amnesty’s International Executive Committee.
Shetty will take over Amnesty International’s helm from Irene Khan in June next year, Amnesty said in a statement.
Before taking up his UN post in 2003, Shetty was chief executive of international charity ActionAid and gained recognition for directing its growth into one of the UK’s largest development organisations.
Amnesty International has over 2.2 million members and supporters in more than 150 countries around the world.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Met Police Search London Flat in US Plane Attack Probe
Police are conducting searches at a mansion block in London in connection with the inquiry into an attempted act of terrorism on a US passenger plane.
Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a Nigerian being held after the flight to Detroit, is thought to have been a student at University College London.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the UK would take “whatever action was necessary” to protect passengers.
UK airport operator BAA said searches on flights to the US would increase.
Meanwhile, a statement on British Airway’s website said Washington has revised its security arrangements for all travellers to the US and they would only be allowed one piece of hand luggage.
A BA spokesman said the directive meant US-bound passengers on all airlines would be subjected to additional screening.
“We apologise to passengers for any delays to their journeys. Safety and security are our top priorities and will not be compromised.”
Extra resources
Passengers on the Northwest Airlines Flight 253 operated by Delta say a man was overpowered on Christmas Day after trying to ignite an explosive device as the Airbus 330 approached Detroit from Amsterdam.
According to reports in the US, Mr Abdulmutallab has links to al-Qaeda.
UCL said it had a record of a student with a name similar to the man being questioned in the US.
A spokesperson said that while the name Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab did not appear in its records, a student called Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was enrolled on a mechanical engineering course between September 2005 and June 2008.
It added: “It must be stressed that the university has no evidence that this is the same person currently being referred to in the media.”
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said the British authorities were informed of a possible connection to the UK on Thursday evening.
The MI5 and police teams assigned to the case are trying ascertain whether Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is the same person, our correspondent said.
It is understood one of their key priorities will also be to check whether the arrested man has cropped up in the course of any other investigations.
The prime minister said he had been in contact with Sir Paul Stephenson, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, because of the “serious potential threat”.
Mr Brown said: “The security of the public must always be our primary concern.
“We have been working closely with the US authorities investigating this incident since it happened.”
BBC News correspondent Richard Slee said there was fairly low-key police activity at the last known address of Mr Abdulmutallab, a basement flat in a smart mansion block near Harley Street in central London.
Reporting from the scene, he said police forensic officers have been seen going into the building on Mansfield Street.
A blue English Heritage plaque states that philanthropist Sir Robert Mayer once lived there.
The Metropolitan Police said its officers were liaising with the US authorities.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “We are in liaison with the US authorities.
“Searches are being carried out at addresses in central London.”
A UK Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “In response to events in Detroit the US authorities have requested additional measures for US-bound flights.
“We are monitoring the situation and will make any assessments as necessary as this develops.”
| [Return to headlines] |
Woman Who Lunged at Pope is Swiss-Italian
A woman who lunged at Pope Benedict XVI and caused him to fall at the start of his Christmas eve mass holds a Swiss passport, the Vatican said on Friday.
The incident did not keep the pope from delivering his Christmas Day blessing, although he looked tired and unsteady but otherwise fine.
The 25-year-old woman, who also holds an Italian passport, leapt over a barrier and grabbed the pope’s clothes, knocking him down. She was “psychologically unstable” but unarmed, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
Vatican officials identified the woman as the same person who had tried to jump a barricade to reach the pope at last year’s Christmas mass.
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, 87, who has been in frail health recently, fell to the floor “in the confusion” and was taken away in a wheelchair. He suffered a broken femur and will have to undergo surgery but is not in serious condition.
The pope, dressed in gold and white vestments, was helped up by security men and after a few seconds continued the procession up the centre aisle. He seemed calm and unfazed during the rest of the ceremony.
“It’s surprising that it happened inside St Peter’s, because the security there has changed a great deal in recent years and is much more tight than it used to be,” the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, leader of Catholics in England and
Wales, told the BBC.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Serbia: Belgrade Aims at 2014 Entry, Membership Submitted
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS — Ten years after the end of the wars which devastated the Balkans, it has not been difficult for Serbian president Boris Tadic, Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt, EU duty president, and European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, to speak about a historic day when describing the presentation by Belgrade of its request for EU membership. A passage which is strongly supported by Italy. A long phase of misunderstandings with the EU thus ends, mainly due to the suspicion that Serbia was not truly committed to capturing war criminals being sought by the Hague tribunal, and a new phase begins, which Tadic himself admits, will not be easy. The road to membership is a long and demanding one, because it requires courageous and important reforms, but I am confident that Serbia will be in a position to satisfy the EU’s conditions, confirmed Reinfeldt, who, like Rehn, was unwilling to commit to a date for the entry of Serbia into the EU. Tadic however, mentioned 2014, and obtaining the status of candidate country by the end of 2010. “Rest assured that if the war criminals are on our territory we will find them. We are working every minute of every day”, confirmed Tadic, promising the maximum effort over reforms to the justice system, the fight against corruption, and the opening up of the markets. He mentioned the objective of bringing Fiat to Serbia as part of this. As for the thorny issue of Kosovo, Tadic repeated that Serbia has no intention of recognising its independence, adding that he wants to defend Serbia’s legitimate national interests with the instruments of diplomacy and legality. With the Dutch objections overcome, the EU unfroze its internal trade agreements with Serbia a few weeks ago, and the visa regime has been liberalised for Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, although Dutch opposition over the failure to hand over former Bosnian-Serb general Ratko Mladic, who is accused of the massacre in Srebrenica, is blocking the ratification of the agreement of association and stabilisation. “We could be a positive surprise, and not just political” joked Tadic, at the close of the joint press conference, in a reference to the escapades of the Serbian national football team, comparing it to the results of the Swedish national team. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
EU-Morocco: Accord on Food and Fish Products Trade
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 17 — After four years of negotiations, the EU and Morocco signed a memo in view of an enlargement of the free trade agreement for food and fish products. A statement by the Commission explained that the understanding provides in particular for the strengthening of the position of European exporters on the Moroccan market, especially in the sector of treated agricultural products, which over the next decade is expected to be progressively and fully deregulated, with the exception of edible pasta, where a limit on quantities has been provided. Even in the fishing sector products from the EU will benefit from a progressive an full deregulation over the next decade. In the sector of agricultural products, the deal between the EU and Morocco provides for the immediate liberalisation of 45% of the value of EU exports, which will become 70% in 10 years. The sectors of fruits and vegetables, food conserves, milk and dairy products, and oleaginous plants will benefit from total liberalisation. For more sensitive products which are not the subject of complete liberalisation, such as meats, cured meats, wheat, olive oil, apples and tomato concentrate, Morocco has improved the conditions of access to its market in the form of tariff contingents. For its part, Morocco will immediately earn from the liberalisation of 55% of EU imports from the country. Then the conditions for products considered sensitive for the EU will improve. The calendars of production were kept unaltered for products such as tomatoes, strawberries, courgettes, cucumbers, garlic and clementines, but the quantities of products that benefit from liberalisation have gone up. For tomatoes for example, which in the space of 4 years will see a growth in volume from 233,000 tonnes to 285,000 tonnes. A wait of some months will be required for the agreements to come into force. Before the official signing, the final text of the agreement reached must be adopted by the Commission, to then be approved by the Member States and the European Parliament. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Christian: Lashed But Not Whipped
This month the beautiful lights, music and family celebrations of Hanukka and Christmas have brightened the winter for Jews and Christians around the world. The miracles that interweave the two faiths’ holiday stories recall the power of God, and His intervention in the lives of those who trust Him. But in recent days, events featuring Hanukka candles and warm holiday greetings have also illuminated pockets of darkness in which, despite seasonal good wishes, both anti-Semitism and the persecution of Christians continue unabated.
A recent visitor to Jerusalem, Majed El Shafie, bore witness to both of these harsh realities at a reception and press conference held at the Van Leer Institute on December 14. Shafie and his colleagues formally introduced his Toronto-based international human rights organization, “One Free World International.”
[…]
Shafie knows a great deal about Christian persecution: He converted from Islam to Christianity in his Egyptian homeland when he was 18. “During my years in law school in Alexandria,” Shafie explains, “the persecution of Christians was going on all around me and it made me wonder why it was happening. For the first time in my life I started to think about it. I started asking questions of my best friend Tamer, who was a Christian, and I started reading the Bible. I started making comparisons between the Bible and the Koran. And that’s when I decided to convert to Christianity.”
Of course, converting from Islam to Christianity — or to any other faith — is dangerous business in Muslim lands. Under Shari’a law such conversions are understood to be a capital offense — enforced by the death penalty in some states, and bringing about various abuses and vigilante tactics in others. Nonetheless, Shafie was outspoken about his new faith.
“After I converted I wrote a book about the difference between Islam and Christianity which soon caused me to be arrested and imprisoned. There were three charges. The first charge was that I was trying to make a revolution against the Egyptian government. The second charge was that, because I was seeking equal rights for Christians, I was accused of trying to change the state religion to Christianity. The third charge was that I worshiped Jesus. So in fact I looked at the judge and I said, ‘Guilty as charged.’“
Shafie was imprisoned and tortured. Even today scars on his back testify to the violence he endured. After a lengthy hospitalization, he was placed under house arrest in Alexandria, and it was from there that he escaped and made his way to Israel. “I hid behind the largest police station in Alexandria because I knew they would never look for me there. After that the Egyptian government put a price on my head, and my friends told me I shouldn’t stay in Egypt any more. So I managed to get to Sinai, where I stayed with some Beduin for two months.”
[…]
After speaking about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, Shafie then began to discuss the plight of persecuted Christians. One Free World reports that in 2008, 165,000 Christians were killed worldwide because of their faith, claiming, “Every three minutes a Christian is being tortured in the Muslim world… between 200 million and 300 million Christians are persecuted in the world, of which 80 percent are in Muslim countries and the rest in communist and other countries.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt’s Coptic Christians Battle for ID Cards
In the grounds of one of the city’s oldest Christian churches, Girgis Gabriel Girgis is tattooing a baby girl.
She is very young, only about three years old, and branding the blue cross onto the girl’s inside wrist brings a piercing shrill scream.
But for these parents, this is a proud moment. The tattoo symbolises community and identity.
Others queue patiently as Girgis wipes away the dye to reveal a tiny Coptic cross.
They all shout “Allah!”, which is the Arabic for God whether you’re Christian or Muslim.
There are plenty more who want to be inscribed indelibly as Coptic Christians.
“The tattoo was once used to identify Christian orphans whose parents had been killed in war,” said Girgis. “So they wouldn’t be brought up as Muslims!”
Ayman Raafat Zaki, 22, also bears a cross.
He has been a member of St Michael’s church in Cairo for nine years and he is now an altar boy.
Every Sunday, dressed in his white robes, he helps lead a large Christian congregation.
He chants readings from the Bible, as the young boys circle the church, spreading thick plumes of fragrant incense.
And yet Ayman’s overt spirituality — and his tattoo — are not enough to convince the state he is a Christian.
Ayman’s father converted to Islam so he could divorce his wife when Ayman was just five months old.
Ayman’s mother took her only child and fled the family’s village for Cairo.
In Islam, the father determines the religion of his children.
And now — even as an adult — Ayman is denied by the state the Christian identity card he craves.
“Since the age of 16, I have been living an anonymous life,” he said. “In the eyes of the I state, I don’t exist. They are trying to force me to become a Muslim by accepting a Muslim identity card. But it was my father’s decision to convert. Not mine.” “I’d rather die than accept a Muslim identity card. It is plainly obvious to anyone here I am a practising Christian,” he says.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Libya Blames Swiss for Escalating Row
Libya’s foreign ministry says Switzerland is to blame for escalating a row between the two countries and has issued a list of 27 points to make its case.
Among the most irksome items for the North African regime: photos leaked to the press of leader Moammar Gaddafi’s son, Hannibal, during his brief 2008 arrest in Geneva. Talk of military action to free two Swiss businessmen held in Libya for more than 500 days also made the list.
As a senator in May 2009, Didier Burkhalter, who has since become interior minister, suggested the Swiss military could forcibly liberate the Swiss businessmen.
Libya has accused the men who work for Swiss firms of visa and business violations. A court sentenced them to 16 months in jail. The Swiss widely believe the charges are trumped up and that the businessmen, who are confined to the Swiss embassy in Tripoli, are being punished as proxies for offending the Gaddafi family’s honour.
Hasni Abidi, director of the Study and Research Center for the Arab and Mediterranean World, saw the four-page post on the Libyan foreign ministry website. He said Tripoli is launching a communications campaign ahead of more court proceedings against the Swiss.
Bern would not comment on the post, but Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has said dealing with Libya has been one of the toughest issues of the year.
The row started on July 15, 2008, when Geneva police arrested Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife on charges — later dropped — that the couple had abused domestic helpers while staying at a luxury hotel in the city. The Gaddafis had come to Geneva for the birth of their child. Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz later apologised for the arrest.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Morocco: For IAGTO Best African Destination for Gulf
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, DECEMBER 21 — Morocco is the best African destination for the Gulf. The recognition came from the International Association of Gulf Tour Operators (IAGTO), which also mentioned other destinations, including Brazil, Thailand, Jamaica and Orlando in the United States. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Cast Lead: Israel Sees as Deterrent for Hamas
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 23 — The sirens wailed days ago in Ashqelon, an Israeli port just next to the Gaza Strip. It was just a drill, and the population followed the emergency vehicles going through the drill with distracted faces. But last January the 100 thousand inhabitants of the city (as well as the one million Israelis in the Neghev) were forced to stay indoors, while Hamas rockets exploded around them. “There is no doubt that with operation Cast Lead we dealt a harsh blow to Hamas” an Israeli military chief told foreign journalists a few days ago. In 2007 over 2,000 rockets and mortar bombs were fired into Israel from Gaza, and the total was over 3,000 in 2008. The stated objective of the operation was to bring the militants to their knees and restore calm to the border with Gaza. The statistics for the last 11 months of 2009 are encouraging, seen from Tel Aviv: 143 rockets and 100 mortar bombs in total. The Israeli deterrent, concludes the top military source, has been strengthened and Hamas has been forced into “responsible” behaviour on other militants active in Gaza as well, including those who refer to the ideologies of al-Qaeda. Behind the high official a map was also displayed which spoke volumes: the other side of the coin. It showed the Gaza Strip, where brightly-coloured concentric semicircles illustrate the improved capacity of Hamas in attacking into Israeli lines. Thanks to military cooperation with Iran and Hezbollah, warned the military chief, Hamas is in theory capable of striking 60 kilometres from Gaza: for example Tel Aviv, and the outskirts of Jerusalem. If the present is acceptable, the future risks being problematic, because Hamas, according to Israeli intelligence, has strengthened its military capability after introducing substantial quantities of weapons, thanks to a capillary network of tunnels dug under the border with Sinai. In the last few months Israel has established that Operation Cast Lead did not end with the withdrawal of forces from Gaza but moved into the international arena with harsh reports authored by major NGOs: a harsh campaign of international criticism which culminated in the publication of the Goldstone Report. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Cast Lead, Many Think War is Not Over
(ANSAmed) — GAZA, DECEMBER 23 — One year down the road former PNA employee Mohammed Awaja, age 45, thinks that the Cast Lead operation is still not over. During last years clashes in the Gaza strip he lost his son Ibrahim along with his home. During the ceasefire he was living in a tent, and his hopes of moving into a rented home vanished for the lack of money. He is now living beneath an old tent and two new ones, where he is about to spend the winter with his family. His child who is meant to come to light next January will also live there. Wére in the eastern area of the refugee camp located in Jabalya, in the suburb of Abed Rabbo, one of the most damaged by the clashes. According to a report by humanitarian organisation Pchr-Gaza, 2,114 home were totally destroyed during the war, and 3,242 were badly damaged. As a consequence there were an estimated 50,000 homeless at the end of the conflict. Today they are 20,000. The blockade of the Strip led to a marked increase in the price of cement and building materials: one year ago a brick was worth two shekels (30 cents), now it is worth 4.50. Desolation abounds in this neighbourhood. We visit the home of dr. Ezzedin Abu El-Eish, a gynaecologist working in Tel Aviv’s Tel ha-Shomer hospital (the same which admitted former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon). He is a person who is known, against his will, for the loss of his daughters when an Israeli shell killed them while he was speaking to the press live on television. He witnessed the death of three of his daughters (Bissan, Miar, Aya), and his niece Nur. Still loyal to his pacifist ideals, Abu El-Eish moved to Canada for work. His relatives say that in a few days he will return for a short stay because he longs for home. But his home and the next one are still severely damaged. Blackouts are frequent. And then there remain, less tangible but evident, his memories, the cruel scenes of death that relatives cannot exorcise. Pointing to the spot where the doctors daughters were killed, our guide said that I cannot enter that room. The Pchr-Gaza report states that 80% of Gazas 1.5 million population lives in poverty. The average unemployment rate is equal to 42%, but in certain areas it is greater than 55%. 1 out of every 5 Gaza families has to live on the equivalent of 10 euros per day. Because of the shutting down of borders (Egypt is building an underground barrier to stop the contraband of goods) consumer prices are always increasing, and life becomes a struggle to survive. To this we must add the danger of a new conflict (which many believe is imminent) and of disease. Many medicines are hard to come by. And those who need complex medical care have to deal with the problem of getting it, given the problems involved in leaving the Strip. Daily wear is a recurrent issue in conversations. Someone who adopts a scientific approach to the psychological effects of the Cast Lead operation is dr. Iyad Saraj, president of Gazas mental health programme. His co-workers are looking at the situation on a school-by-school basis, and they tell him that there is an 80% increase in violence. The kids are “nervous, aggressive, wrathful”, he states. He warns that mental disorders are gaining hold, and that it will be difficult to root them out.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Netanyahu Invites Livni to Enter His Government
(ANSAmed) — JERUSALEM, DECEMBER 24 — Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu invited Tzipi Livni, leader of the Kadima party (28 representatives) and the opposition to enter his government today. The news was announced by the office of the premier in a statement which affirmed that Netanyahu “asked Livni to join the national unity government… keeping in mind the local and international challenges that face Israel”. Already in the past, during negotiations for the formation of the government, he had tried to convince Livni to participate in a coalition government but without success. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ahmadinejad Calls Europe’s Politicians ‘One More Stupid Than the Other’
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called European politicians “one more stupid than the other.”
“These [European] politicians neither know anything about politics nor about history,” Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a speech at at Arak mosque in Tehran.
“For example they come and say let’s destroy the minarets of the mosques and they think by that they can block the flood of the Islamic movement and belief,” he said at a ceremony marking an annual Shiite Muslim mourning ceremony.
“They do not understand that minarets do not make belief but it is the belief of the people that makes the minarets,” Ahmadinejad added.
The Iranian president was referring the outcome of a Swiss referendum last month to ban the construction of minarets on mosques which Tehran harshly criticized and called on the Swiss government not to implement.
Ahmadinejad also referred to the United States, saying Iran would never allow the US to get domination over the Middle East.
“Iran is today 10 times stronger than last year and will stand against you (world powers) more powerful than before,” he said in an apparent reference to a plan by the US and its allies to impose renewed sanctions on Iran due to its uncompromising stance in the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“While Iran is now a big power and undefeatable, there are signs that Iran’s enemies worldwide are on the verge of collapse,” he said.
Ahmadinejad, is known for populist and fiery speeches at local ceremonies.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Aims to Improve Image in Arab World
Iran is making desperate attempts to improve its image in the Arab world as it seeks allies against the increasing threat of war with Israel and America.
Senior regime leaders have been using the cover of the battle over its nuclear programme to reach out to their many foes in the Middle East.
Its closest ally, Syria, has also been making a high profile bid to forge a new position in response to President Barack Obama’s “Muslim-friendly” posturing since taking up office.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Jails Former Government Spokesman
A former Iranian government spokesman has been jailed for six years.
Iranian media reported that Abdullah Ramezanzadeh was convicted of trying to topple the government during protests after elections last June.
The charges against him included “acts against the national security, propaganda against the Islamic state and holding classified documents”.
Other opposition supporters have been sentenced to death by courts following the anti-government protests.
Mr Ramezanzadeh supported pro-reform candidate Mir Houssein Mosavi during the election.
He was a government spokesman under reformist President Mohammed Khatami between 1997 and 2005.
Clashes
Reports say more than 100 other people have been jailed since the protests over the polls.
Sentences handed out by the courts for journalists and activists arrested during the protests have been up to 15 years.
As many as five people have been sentenced to death, prosecutors say.
Thousands were arrested and dozens killed during the largest street protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
They were sparked by opposition claims of election fraud in the presidential race.
Clashes broke out earlier this week between the government and pro-reform supporters following the death of reformist cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Kadivar: ‘I Am Convinced That the Iranian Regime Will Collapse’
In a SPIEGEL interview, Iranian Ayatollah Mohsen Kadivar, currently a visiting research professor at America’s Duke University, discusses the recent death of opposition leader Hossein Ali Montazeri, the frustrations Iranians have with their regime, the future of the green movement and the prospect of an escalation.
SPIEGEL: Ayatollah Kadivar, what did Hossein Ali Montazeri mean to you, and what role did he play for the Iranian people?
Kadivar: He was my teacher, my spiritual guide, my father — the most important person in my life. I studied as a young man under him when he was the Revolutionary Leader’s deputy. I admired the way he fought along side Khomeini, but then also for his candid criticism of him. I cried when Khomeini repudiated him. For Iran, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri was a true beacon of light and, in the end, a spiritual leader for the green opposition.
SPIEGEL: The authorities prevented independent media coverage of his funeral. People spoke of a provocation and rioting. What really happened last Monday in Qom?
Kadivar: My relatives were part of the funeral procession, which included hundreds of thousands of people, including a nephew of Khomeini’s. From them I know that the Basij militias attempted to provoke peaceful mourners to commit violence. They didn’t do them this favor. But they did shout out slogans that had never been heard before in Qom, Iran’s most conservative city: “Death to the dictator! Our leader is our shame!” On that day, the people were particularly angry at supreme religious leader Ali Khamenei.
SPIEGEL: Why?
Kadivar: Khamenei said in his message of mourning that Montazeri had failed at a crucial point in his life. Everyone knew that he meant Montazeri’s confrontation with Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. Khamenei did not speak in the “I” form, but rather in the “we” form, as if he were the voice of Allah on forgiving Montazeri’s mistake in the hereafter. That upset people. After all, the mourners said, only God can decide who failed and at which turning point in the Islamic Republic. Khamenei is not God.
| — Hat tip: Sean O’Brian | [Return to headlines] |
Syria-Spain: 5 Mln Euro Loan From Madrid for SMEs
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, DECEMBER 21 — Spain is to provide 5 million euros in loans to Syria’s small and medium sized businesses, and will grant a donation of 3 million euros aimed at funding feasibility studies in the Middle Eastern country, said Spanish Secretary of State for Trade, Silvia Pranzo, during a visit to Damascus where she met President of the State Commission for the Plan, Riddawi. During the meeting, reported by Italy’s Embassy in Damascus in its newsletter, the two ministers explored possibilities for cooperation between Syria and Spain in the field of renewable energy and other areas of common interest, as well as the opportunity to conclude bilateral agreements in the field of technical cooperation. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Syria-France: Financial Cooperation Accord Signed
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, DECEMBER 21 — Syria’s Finance Minister, Al Hussein, and the French Economy, Finance and Employment Minister, Christine Lagarde, have recently signed a bilateral accord for financial cooperation. During the meetings in Damascus for the signing of the agreement, reported the newsletter from the Italian embassy in Damascus, possibilities for intervention by the French Cooperation Agency were explored for the following sectors: water, infrastructure and environment. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Sees Syria as Door to Mideast Market, Says Erdogan
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, DECEMBER 23 — Turkey considered Syria as a door opening to the Middle Eastern market of 320 million, Anatolia news agency reports quoting Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan as saying. “Turkish banks can open branches in Syria, giving a significant momentum to bilateral trade,” Erdogan said during a Turkish-Syrian High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting in Damascus, Syria. Erdogan said Turkey could contribute to Syria in construction of Latakia airport and privatization bids. The Turkish prime minister said Middle East peace would be laid on a stronger ground when Turkey and Syria gave hand-in-hand with each other, and underlined importance of regional peace. The Turkish premier held a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Naji al-Utri after they signed 48 memoranda of understanding. Actual trade volume between Turkey and Syria is approx 2 billion USD and investments of Turkish businessmen in Syria has amounted to 700 million USD. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Guttenberg: Afghan Democracy Impossible
Germany’s beleagured defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has said the West should abandon hopes of creating a democracy in Afghanistan.
Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told the Sunday edition of the tabloid Bild newspaper that Afghanistan was simply not suited to democracy, and that any realistic government in the country had to include the Taliban.
The defence minister, who has come under huge pressure over his handling of the aftermath of a deadly air strike in Kunduz, said, “I have long since become convinced that because of its history and its cultural orientation Afghanistan is not suited to being a model democracy, measured by our standards.”
The minister added that in order to achieve a lasting peace in the country, including moderate Taliban in the government should not be ruled out. “In a country with so much regional diversity, we cannot exclude an entire people like the Pashtuns if we want a sustainable solution in the future,” he said.
Guttenberg admitted that this represents a u-turn in his position on the Taliban.
“We have to ask ourselves which of the insurgents represent a serious threat to the international community, and which are concerned with Afghan questions,” Guttenberg said. “The question of human rights has to be addressed here, without ignoring the cultures that have developed in Afghanistan.”
But he warned, “Negotiations and the inclusion of the Taliban should of course not be started without conditions. It would be unacceptable if universally acknowledged human rights were simply suspended.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia-China: Education Cooperation Signed
(ANSAmed) — BEGLRADE, DECEMBER 23 — Serbian Minister of Education Zarko Obradovic and China’s Deputy Minister of Education Hao Ping signed in Beijing the program on educational cooperation between the two countries which will be carried out at the inter-university, faculty and secondary school level by 2013, reports Tanjug news agency. During the meeting, special importance was laid on the development of the program of the Confucius Institute in Belgrade and improvement of the Serbian language lectures at the Peking University and agreed that the number of scholarship grants be doubled. During his visit to Beijing, Obradovic met with top representatives of the most prestigious faculties, academies and universities and is scheduled to confer with the heads of the Fudan University and Shangai authorities. Obradovic is on the visit to China upon the invitation of Chinese Education Minister Yuan Guiren.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
OAS: The Hemispheric Government Shaping Your Future
The United States has a new Permanent Ambassador to the OAS. Why should this be important to you? Why did this go almost unremarked by most in the media? Should we be concerned that this new Ambassador once had a leadership role within MALDEF and may have an agenda that would not best serve all American citizens, especially with the highly contentious immigration and amnesty issues facing our nation?
[…]
What is The Organization Of American States (OAS) and how does it affect the lives and liberty of average American citizens?
Many believe the United Nations to be a paper tiger of blustering dignitaries, soaring rhetoric and financial scandal, accomplishing nothing. We would be much better off were that the case. In truth, the United Nations has worked for decades, systematically laying a framework for world government and incrementally, region by region, they are accomplishing their goals.
The OAS is an arm of the United Nations and follows closely the United Nations mandates in its aspirations and accomplishments.
[…]
It is hard to comprehend the complexity and enormity of a hemispheric government. It is even more difficult to explain it but I can’t think of anything more critical for the American citizen to understand.
I have laid out some of the framework for this behemoth and after you have read this and explored at least a few of the links, I hope you will ask the same question which deeply troubles me; what does any of this have to do with our Constitutionally mandated Representative Republic?
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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